When a Lamb is Not a Lamb
by Darth Gojira
Summary: A vampire is a Hogwarts, bringing fear, lust, and a choice for Hermione Granger, but either choice means death. The witch confronts the vampire, and neither expects what will ensue. One of them will not be leaving the castle in a single piece.
1. Crepusculum

"Did any of you see Dumbledore's new friend?"

"He's soooo gorgeous! It's like Cedric's back"

"He creeps me out like he's a vampire or something"

"I heard that he is"

"He reminds me of Professor Snape"

"Snape's a vampire?"

"If he's a student, he's definitely a Slytherin"

The gossip echoed from one end to another of Hogwarts castle, and then back again. It had started ever since Dumbledore was seen walking rather swiftly in the corridors with a mysterious, extremely pale stranger with an American-tinged accent. Even though the stranger kept to himself and refused to associate with either student or teacher.

It was during Defense Against the Dark Arts that the question emerged

"Professor MacCool, do you know anything about the new student here?"

"Miss Abbot, assuming you are talking about Mr. Cullen, I'm afraid I have to tell you that he is on very private business with Dumbledore."

"Professor MacCool?"

The wizened, blind wizard turned his head sharply in annoyance, keen hearing identifying the speaker.

"That is enough, Miss Granger! I know next to nothing about who Mr. Cullen is. You'll have to talk to Dumbledore"

"I'm not asking about Mr. Cubbin" Hermione Granger sighed in exasperation, "I'm asking about the homework. Professor Snape refused to lend me another sample of the anti-pheromone potion. I still need to finish the assignment on common luring charms"

"Oh" MacCool sighed in relief, "I knew I can count on you, Granger. Did Professor Snape give a reason?"

"He said I've used far too many in experiments and that you should try making some yourself"

The old teacher laughed, "Ah, still has his cruelty, that Snape. I taught him Defense Against the Dark Arts myself. He had a morbid fascination with cutting and breaking things. I told him that I would still have my other eye if it weren't for that kind of magic. Ah well, that's what I'm here for. Right, Miss Granger, I'll talk to him myself and perhaps demonstrate why blind men make poor potions"

Ron Weasley and Harry Potter grinned at each other. Revenge on Snape was something they never got tired of.

"Professor MacCool?" A hand was raised

"Is it pertaining to the lesson, Mr. Longbottom?"

"Not-not really, but I wanted to know if there was vampires outside Europe"

"Vampires are all over the world. Did Miss Umbridge teach you about those yet?"

"Only that they suck blood" Ron quipped

"You know, Ronald, you're a lad after my own heart" MacCool smiled, light reflecting off his dark spectacles. Very well, I think we should turn to the subject while we're on it. The headmaster himself told me it would be wise to teach….."

"Well done, Neville. I thought that the lesson would never start. I've got the book on them if you're interested" Hermione put her hand on her partner's shoulder.

"Really? I mean, it'd be great, but don't you need it?" the round-featured boy blushed

"I've read it twice already. I'll give it to you at the common room"

The great thing about this year, Hermione reflected, was that the teachers were completely used to her, the school was back in order, and her friends were all back. So were Snape and Malfoy, but with Harry and Ron and Ginny and Neville and Luna and Katie and Alicia and all the other students, all the old friends, she felt like she was still at home.

Things had changed, of course. Harry was more alert about everything. Neville was starting to develop his confidence. Ginny was asserting herself everywhere. Still, Ron was the same. On one hand, she was very glad he was. On the other, it was terrible, since her feelings towards him were starting to change.

"How am I supposed to know what that means? I don't speak Romanian"

"Books like these should have glossaries or something."

Hermione was tempted to explain to Ron and Harry how to read terms in context, but she wasn't in the mood. She turned back to Neville.

"Which chapter are you on?"

"Um, regional variations. Do you think we're supposed to know how to counter a Managaganagall?"

"_Manananggal_.**" **Hermione corrected, "No. I don't think he'd want to call our head of house a vampire."

That got a laugh out of everyone in earshot.

"There should be a vampire called a Snape," Ron said with a smirk

"He's worse than a vampire," Neville shook his head

"I don't know about that. According to this book, some vampires have extraordinary senses, speed, and strength which make them very dangerous when roused." Hermione turned back to the book

"So vampire powers are different from each other?" Neville looked confused

"It depends on how they were made. There's a lot of ways to make a vampire, and categorizing them has been very difficult. That's why they're not in _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _or any general book on beings_._"

"That is, according to the ministry", Luna Lovegood called out from her perch on top of a bookshelf.

"What's your theory, Luna?" Harry grinned up at her.

"They're being used as a secret police, of course. The less people know about them, the better. Only the ministry knows how to make vampires, and they're not going to tell anyone how"

Hermione rolled her eyes. As much as she liked Luna, sometimes her theories were just plain silly. Harry's imagination and Neville's nervousness were bad enough without her adding fuel to the flames. She held her temper this time, hoping that her friends wouldn't go into a panic. Part of her suspected that Luna didn't believe what she was saying sometimes.

Her train of thought was interrupted as a chill ran down her spine. Pince was strict about the temperature in the library, and the cold took her entirely by surprise. A dementor, perhaps? Somehow she doubted Dumbledore would allow them in for another year. She spun around in her chair to see if the door was opening or if someone had cast a cooling spell.

A vampire entered the room. Hermione knew it was a vampire. Only someone who had never heard of them would not have identified him as such. The skin was pale like a sheet, almost glowing white like bones bleached by the sun. The eyes were dark gold like that of that of an owl or a wolf, but without the living warmth behind them. Tall, muscular, and seemingly carved from a piece of cold ivory, vampires always looked otherworldly. No wonder so many girls thought this stranger beautiful, especially under the influence of their pheromones. For Hermione, however, the vampire was terrifying.

The vampire walked briskly through the room like a winter breeze. Everyone seemed to stare at him except for Luna, who was too busy trying to decode a cookbook. Hermione saw her friends as terrified as she was; Harry was sweating, all of the color in Ron's face had drained, and Neville shrunk into his seat as if to force himself into as small a space as possible.

Pausing, the vampire looked at the students. His look was of sheer contempt and boredom as his eyes traced around the room. Snape himself would be proud. He stared for a long time at Hermione, who in turn had begun to shiver uncontrollably. Harry's hand clenched around his wand, but his whole body shook. Ron moved protectively towards Hermione. Neville was first to speak.

"C-c-c-can we hel-h-he-help you?" He stuttered.

"I was just wondering who you are" The stranger said very blandly. No menace, no warmth, just words.

Harry took the lead.

"I'm Harry Potter. Dumbledore may have told you about me"

"Yes. He did"

"And these are my friends" he gestured, "Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom. The two girls over there are Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. Um, is that all you want?"

"No. Thank you. My name is Edward Cullen. I'm from America. I have business with Dumbledore. Goodbye." His face never changed expression, his eyes still fixed on Hermione.

And as if he had apparated inside the school, he was gone. After a minute, Ron broke the silence as he moved away from Hermione

"He's got to be a vampire. Or a Dementor clown"

"Why was he staring at me?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Yeah, that was odd. He was looking at you like you were the special of the day. I wonder what's going on", Ron said as he scratched his head.

"He looked hungry. Very hungry." Harry narrowed his eyes.

"I hope he leaves soon. I don't want to see him again", Neville said with a shudder.

"Harry, do you think we should tell Dumbledore about this?" Hermione turned to Harry.

"No. He's got more important things to worry about. Anyway, I can't imagine this vampire will stay for long"

Hermione hoped so. She was sure of three things: First, there was a vampire in Hogwarts. Second, he looked at her like she was a dessert plate. And third, she unconditionally and irrevocably loathed him on a primal level.

For a while, it looked like Harry was right. Things progressed rather normally. On the exam on vampires, Hermione was proud to get top marks, relieved that Ron passed, and surprised that Neville actually did better than Harry. It did seem odd that the curriculum reached the section on combating vampires exactly when a vampire came to the school. When she told Harry about this, he responded by saying how grateful he was that they weren't doing dragons.

Of course, there was the Ron problem. Hermione refused to back down first, but Ron was often ignoring her. To her frustration, Lavender Brown had asked Ron out to Hogsmeade, and Ron accepted. He was getting back at her, goading her, trying to make her jealous. She had to admit that it was working. Harry and Neville agreed with her about how sappy it was, but confessed that they were happy for their friend. Men could be so frustrating.

She considered fighting fire with fire, but the options were fairly slim. Ginny had Dean, most of the other boys weren't interested, and the only boy interested was Cormac McLaggen, and she knew better than to ask him out. All she could do is just grit her teeth and endure Lavender and Ron. This ate away at her, frustrated her, and made Hermione start to, bit by bit, withdraw from the rest of the world.

If it wasn't for academics, she'd go mad. Not only did she succeed in getting straight O's in her classes, she even got Snape to grit his yellowed teeth to compliment her potion. To make it better, it was one she was working on with Neville. She had to admit, she was starting to spend more time with him than with Ron and Harry, who were starting to have their own problems. In fact, she was starting to wonder what was happening to their friendship when she had a second encounter with terror.

It began one day when she was walking down a hallway alone, early for class, when she heard a gurgling and gasping noise. She turned to see the vampire called Edward Cullen holding Draco Malfoy by the neck with one hand. Draco somehow looked even paler than usual and was kicking and grasping frantically at the strange man's iron face and icy fingers. Hermione gasped in shock and interrupted Cullen.

"Please, Mr. Cullen, let him go. He's not worth it and Dumbledore would be in trouble with his parents. You have no reason to go choking people!"

Edward turned, his hand still on the student's throat and his eyes piercing into Hermione.

"He was going to attack you."

"And how do you know that?"

"I can read thoughts. It's sad how much you care even for the people who you despise. If anyone tries to attack you, I will kill him."

"It's not about him, it's about killing people. You can't use it to get what you want! Besides, why protect me when Malfoy bullies practically every student in the school? Honestly, this makes no sense. Why are you doing this?"

"You want to know something you should never learn. You know too much already: I'm not going to tell you any more." His relentlessly bland expression and voice send a chill of revulsion down Hermione's spine. The ghosts actually had more emotion than him.

"You have every reason to be afraid, but I'm not going to hurt you." He predicted exactly what she was going to say.

"Oh, that's relief", she said sarcastically, regaining her composure.

"You're right not to trust me, but that doesn't mean you can avoid me forever."

"L-look", she stuttered, "Why are you so interested in me when we barely met? If you can read minds, you know what I think of you. Why are you following me?"

"The way you smell. The way you think. You're not like the other people here." His words came out like Viktor's, but with no warmth. No affection. No humanity.

"Leave me alone!" Hermione finally had the presence of mind to draw her wand.

"You can't keep away for ever. We'll meet again"

And with that, Cullen dropped Malfoy in a heap and walked away like a wisp of shadow at dawn.

As Malfoy got up, breathing heavily, he snarled in the direction of the vampire.

"My dad will have Dumbledore's head for this."

"You're an idiot, Malfoy. Mr. Cullen was doing this of his own accord. You wouldn't need veritaserum to find that out."

"Why is he protecting you? Might as well guard the toilet. The man's deranged. Bloody suckers aren't fit for any society."

"I'm going to find out about him. Stay out of my way, Malfoy, or it'll be me strangling you." Her look of determination flickered warningly at the Slytherin boy before returning to the hallway Edward had disappeared into. It's often said that the things you fear the most entice and appall you the most are the most attractive. Hermione had often thought it just nonsense, considering exactly how much time she wanted to spend with bad grades or with people like Malfoy. Still, her relentless curiosity drove her on. She would learn, one way or the other.


	2. Kalend

Hermione's first course of action was to talk to Dumbledore. He was responsible for this vampire, and she knew he would make the right decision once she told him exactly what happened. Unfortunately, he was never available. Time and time again she would visit his office, but he was always busy. When she went to her head of house, McGonagall reminded her that her studies were the most important thing to her, not the neighborhood undead.

Not that this went unnoticed. Ron and Neville were growing concerned. If only Harry was there. More and more time he spent alone, or on the Quidditch pitch practicing. If with anyone, he was with Ginny, who agreed with Harry that Dumbledore would get to the bottom of it.

"I think he's gone now, isn't he?" Neville asked her one day at breakfast, "Vampires can't spend much time in society, can they?"

"I don't know, but I want to know why he's so interested in me"

"You're encouraging him, you know. Looking for him is kind of the opposite of getting him out of your life." Ron pointed out.

"Are you sure we can't help you?" Said Neville.

"Please don't. Even though you're trying to help, he said he'd kill whoever approached me. I don't want you in danger on my account" She bit her lip unconsciously as fear flushed back into her mind.

"If that what it takes to get him out, we'll do it, right Ron?"

There was a pause.

"Right. And besides-"

"Oh Ro-on!" A voice sang out.

Hermione turned to see Lavender Brown walk over from her spot to sit next to Ron, who blushed and stopped in the middle of the conversation.

"Oh, hi Lav!" Ron turned to his new girlfriend.

Across the table, Hermione's fingers gripped onto her cup like a vise.

Neville actually noticed it.

"Hermione?" He asked her.

"What's up with her?" Lavender nodded her head towards the other witch, who was starting to vibrate.

"Oh, she's a bit tense since that Cullen bloke came to the school. He's interested in her", Ron explained.

"Awww, isn't that sweet?"

"No, it isn't"

Neville, who had been watching Hermione, noticed an audible grinding sound from Hermione's tightly shut mouth. The sound only stopped when Neville grasped onto her hand.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Cullen's a vampire, that's what! He wants to bloody eat her!"

"Oh."

"That's right. I'm going to find out why he's so interested in me and get him to leave!" Hermione finally snapped.

"Well, let him know there's plenty of other girls interested", Lavender winked at her, "but this one's taken."

"You're just doing it on purpose," Hermione hissed between clenched teeth.

It wasn't entirely luck. Nor was it entirely quick thinking. Nor was it simple forgetfulness. But somehow Neville thought of the one thing that made Hermione stop thinking about Ron and Lavender and get to her mission.

"Hermione, could you tell me what the standard procedure is for killing vampires again?"

"Stake. Silver. Garlic. Decapitation."

She usually didn't speak in one-word sentences, but her brain revived with a gasp and a sputter.

"Neville?"

"What?"

"Tell Harry to get Dobby to bring me a piece of silver and some garlic from the kitchen. I'm going to make a plan myself."

"But Hermione…."

Ron was distracted by Lavender's embrace, but Neville could only protest frantically as Hermione stalked off to her next class.

That night, Hermione slept fitfully. She had barely fallen asleep in the first place. Worries and anxieties circulated her mind, determination and fear dueling for first place. The turmoil swirled through the memories of the past weeks, images blinking in and out of her consciousness. Sometimes she dreamed of scenarios like a movie, and sometimes she dreamed of experiences like the memories themselves.

This night she dreamed of faces. Harry's bright eyes and pale scar. Ron's freckles and beautiful hair. Neville's round features and full lips. Harry reminded her of loyalty and honor and courage. Ron reminded her of unfinished business and inner conflict. Neville reminded her of warmth and comfort. Then the faces changed. Ginny's bright face, a thought on her mercurial mind. Luna's dreaming eyes, seeing everything and nothing. Dumbledore's knowing smile. McGonagall's spectacles shifting at the raise of a humorous eyebrow. Hagrid's teeth beaming from beneath the heavy beard. Tonks' face changing from round to angular and back with a cheeky wink. Lupin's steady, reassuring gaze. Even Trewlawny's googling stare seemed to have life and emotion.

Then the faces grew more menacing. Draco's contemptuous sneer of hate. Snape's more adult glare of scorn and disdain. Moody's wandering eye. Umbridge's narrowed slits on a froglike countenance. Bellatrix's maniac grin of sadistic triumph. Edward Cullen's cold, dead gaze. The face of Voldemort…..

She sat up as she woke up with a start. Her pajamas felt damp with cold sweat as she stared into the darkness. She could make out a large figure in the gloom with glowing golden eyes.

Hermione clutched at her wand by the bed, but when she cast _lumos_, the figure was gone. Leaving a blank wall in its place.

"Hermione?" She could hear Alicia mumble from the bed nearby.

"What's with the light? What's going on?" Parvati blinked herself awake.

Hermione blushed as she extinguished the light.

"Nothing", she explained, "I must be seeing things."

She didn't believe her own assertion, but she stuck with it both with her friends and in her mind. It was only through that little fib that she managed to go back to sleep.

"Hermione! There's a paper for you! You'd better read it before one of us does. I can't hold the rest forever. I can't even hold myself back for any longer."

"I'm up," Hermione grumbled as she blinked awake and sat up. Parvati was waving a piece of folded paper in her grasp. Grunting, Hermione got out of bed and took the paper from her friend. The impeccable penmanship in neat ink read:

_Hermione Granger_

_You know who I am and what I am_

_We shall end this tonight on the northwest tower_

_Tell no one and go alone. I shall be waiting._

Hermione folded the note and put in the pocket of her robes as she dressed. That day she would spend preparing. This time, she'd do it alone. A shiver ran down her spine. She hated to admit she was terrified of being alone for too long. Her friends would not be there to help her. Still, she usually had to save them, and she refused to have their blood on her hands if things went bad. She could do this herself.

The best thing that could happen is that the vampire apologized and left Hogwarts forever. The worst….she could imagine the worst rather well. She imagined the worst quite often, unfortunately. She had always told Neville that the more you thought about a failure and did nothing, the more likely you would fail, and that you should always act on your fears to conquer that made you afraid. When Neville would nod slowly in understanding, she felt they had both accomplished something.

The garlic and silver came, courtesy of a proud house-elf. She insisted on giving him stocking caps to distribute to the other elves (hand knitted by herself and Neville. Harry kept stabbing himself by accident and Ron was always "too late".). Dobby just wore the hats himself, telling her that the others didn't want the caps. It was worth the try, anyway.

As usual, she read books in-between classes that day. But they weren't all academic. She had gathered all the books on combat, especially those against vampires and other beings. She was glad she had finished the books she had given to Neville, Harry, and Ron. She memorized their strategies and their lore.

Most of the time, vampires and wizards avoided each other. However, when they did push each other too far, their conflicts were often bloody and violent. Most spells used against vampires were violent. No clean Avada Kedavra. Wizards used burning, exploding, tearing spells to simply destroy the bodies of the vampires. The vampires in turn used their speed and strength. Many wizards didn't even have a chance to fight back before falling to the inhuman grip and piercing fangs.

Hermione's stomach turned at the descriptions she read. She had been in a fight before. It had been terrifying, and she had nearly been killed. If it wasn't for Harry and Neville, she would have died there. Still, she had survived, after all, and she had saved their lives in turn. She wasn't sure she was in control of the situation, but she would make it so one way or another.

She didn't speak with anyone. Harry's eyes always flitted across the room, senses heightened to full alert, but she didn't calm him down. Ron yelled at her once and stalked off to join Lavender, but Hermione didn't open her mouth. Neville and Ginny were jumped by Crabbe and Goyle and somehow fought them off, but Hermione didn't say a word to the teachers.

The hour finally came when the sun came down and her last class ended. Being a prefect, Hermione was able to wander the corridors in the evening, but she moved fast lest be noticed and questioned. Ron and Harry were playing chess. The other prefects were rounding up their wayward students. No student or teacher barred her way, or even paid attention to the slight girl going down the halls at a frantic rate.

Of all the creatures from painting to Snape, however, a toad noticed. A toad followed by his stumbling master.

"Trevor! What's the matter with you? There's plenty of crickets back in your cage, you know. You don't have to-" Neville paused his harangue on the amphibian when he heard rapid footsteps moving away from him. He hadn't the faintest idea who it could be. Neville was used to not knowing anything, though, and he shrugged, picked up his toad, and returned to the common room.

Then his mind clicked.

"Harry, you seen Hermione anywhere?"

Harry dropped the wildly gesticulating bishop, his green eyes wide as he took in the possibilities.

"No, I haven't."

"Damn, she must still be out there. Lavender, do you know where she could be?" Ron turned to his dozing girlfriend who was slowly falling asleep on the couch. As she fell her head jostled Ginny, who shoved her back in annoyance.

"Hmm? Well, Parvati told me Hermione got a note in the morning, but she didn't get to read it. I don't know who sent it, but it sounds dodgy."

Harry and Ron locked terrified gazes.

"The vampire!"

Harry sprung into hero mode.

"All right. Ginny, check the library. Neville, Dumbledore's office. Ron, ask the paintings and ghosts. Lavender, tell the rest of the house to wait in here and keep watch. I'll get McGonagall. We're not going to let her do this alone."

"Last time I got in her way, she petrified me", Neville pointed out.

"She's going to die if we don't do something!" Harry snapped

"I didn't say I was against it. Let's go!" Neville managed to fire back before he got up to join his friends as they ran off.


	3. Umbra et Aurora

It wasn't a dark and stormy night, but well-lit and windy, which is fairly dramatic. Hermione Granger, however, didn't care about the dramatics. She only cared about this stranger who had haunted her. Vampires were dramatic enough, and ever since she was attacked by a troll in the girl's bathroom drama was just part of the day's distractions. This time she was alone, but this time she was prepared. In the pocket of her robe she kept the stake and garlic. She hoped she wouldn't need them, but she had a feeling violence would be inevitable.

When she reached the tower, Edward Cullen was waiting for her. He stood as still as a statue, not blinking, the only motion his muggle clothes being swayed by the chill night breeze. He turned around to face her, clearly in charge of the situation. Hermione had every intention to change this.

"Edward", she said quietly as she moved to the vampire, "I'm glad you've decided to do things civilly. Now, I told you how I feel and you can probably tell about what I think of this situation. I want you to explain yourself and why you're doing this to me."

"I'm a vampire, Hermione," he said calmly, "I'm the world's most dangerous predator. Everything about me invites you in. My voice, my face, even my smell. As if I would need any of that. As if you could outrun me. As if you could fight me off. I'm designed to kill. And I'm afraid you've come to my attention and I can't just let you go."

Ron raced through the corridors with his wand lit as brightly as he could manage, startling painting from their rest. A few ghosts drew towards the light, curious about the disturbance.

"Hermione Granger is in danger. I want to know if anyone's seen her and where she's headed."

There was a chorus of mumbling.

"Please! She's going to die!" He yelled. Still nothing. He took a deep breath

"I'm going to find out why before I take each painting from the wall and turn it into confetti!" Ron's face turned redder than it ever was before as he roared at the unhelpful paintings. There was a long pause.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley! You say a maiden is in distress?" A haggard looking knight peeped into the frame of a young couple who were in the process of hiding behind the nearby fountain.

"Cadogan! Have you seen Hermione Granger? She's going to try to face down a vampire" Ron enunciated each word impatiently, making sure it got across the dimwitted painting's magical mind.

"Why, I heard from Captain Gilling that she was heading toward the northwest tower. If her life is at stake from the monstrous servant of the undead, you can count on the greatest knight of the realm to-".

Ron had already gone.

"Why?" Hermione could only say.

"I can read minds, you know. I have read yours, and it's like nothing I have ever seen before. Perhaps it's your mind that makes you smell so good, that makes you look like the perfect prey. It's like heroin"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Mr. Cullen, but I'm not impressed by your defense of rather disturbing behavior. Addicts like you need to get counseling. What do you want from me?"

"It's going to be one thing or the other. Either I…feed on you, which I have taken every intention to avoid, or I become part of your life. Guardian, lover, parent; it doesn't matter, as long as I can still smell you. I want you to let me be part of your life."

"I can't let that happen," Hermione faced him unblinkingly. She had found her anchor, her sticking place, and she wasn't going to be swayed by him or anyone else.

"I won't let you put my friends in danger. You're a menace; you've told me so. Most vampires know that and they take programs and substitutes. We leave them alone; they leave us alone. Why don't you keep doing that?" Her voice gave no sign of surrender or compromise, her eyes narrowed; vampires seldom meet victims as stubborn as Hermione J. Granger.

"I told you. It's because of you. I must give in somehow. I want to protect you."

"I don't need your protection. I've handled myself and my friends have helped me quite fine."

"You don't need your friends. You need something better," the vampire insisted.

"I'm not giving them up for anything. Not for you, or for school, or for V-V-V-Voldemort himself." Hermione never took the word of the most evil being she had ever experienced lightly.

"If they let you down, what will happen? I'd rather kill them than make that happen."

"They've let me down!" Hermione snapped, "But I forgive them. You're acting ridiculous for someone who's...almost a century old! I think I know what's good for me, thank you!"

"You're a human. You don't know enough. You're not strong enough, or fast enough, or smart enough. You need me."

"No. I. Don't."

Edward moved to grab her arm, but Hermione managed to beat him. The clove of garlic shattered against his stone-hard face, which only blinked once. The garlic didn't have any effect, but Hermione didn't count on that. All she need was time to draw her wand.

She got her time. Things seemed to move in slow motion as she grabbed the wand from the pocket she had put it in when she arrived at the tower. It slid out in a single smooth motion, aimed at Edward. Hermione had become quite expert as using nonverbal spells, and with a gesture of her wand, she sent the vampire flying off the tower of Hogwarts. He seemed to hang in the air as the spell threw him yards away, surprise and anger managing to creep into his masklike expression. And then he was gone.

For a while, Hermione stood alone on the tower, breathing hard. It felt like when she came in from a snowstorm into a warm house. It felt like awakening from a horrible nightmare only to forget it immediately. She had triumphed, and she did it entirely by herself.

She only turned around when she heard Ron's voice.

"Hermione! You're alive!"

She turned around and embraced her friend, who was crushing her with enthusiasm and relief.

"Ron? How did you find out?"

"We're not stupid, Hermione! Harry and I figured it out. He's gone with Ginny and Neville to get the rest of the teachers. They should be here soon."

Then Ron paused, suddenly noticing something.

"Where's that Cullen bloke?"

"Somewhere down there" Hermione explained, gesturing off the tower, "We got into a…disagreement and I threw him off with a _mobilicorpus_."

"You _what_?" Ron was stunned.

"I threw him off, by myself. Look, I appreciate what you're all doing, but this is my battle, and I won it myself."

Vampires, however, are harder to kill than Hermione thought. As she explained things to the person she felt the most mixed feelings for, a dark shape got up from the moist Scottish soil. Stone by stone, the shape began to crawl up the wall of the tower, first at the pace of a novice wall-climber, then at an inhuman pace. Vampires, after all, aren't human except in their general body shape and in their mind. And revenge is one of the most human of all emotional curses.

"You should have told us!" Ron argued.

"Oh, so now you're the one being responsible! Funny, last time I said the exact same thing to you, you just ignored me!" Hermione snapped.

"Don't get all high-and-mighty. You don't see me and Harry lying to you, but you lied to all of us. You didn't tell us anything!"

"And how is that different from what you do? You conveniently decide not to tell me important things all the time! If you have the right to do that, then I have every right to."

"Fine, then I expect you to shut your bloody gob whenever I decide to do something for myself!"

"Honestly, Ron, you're acting like a-" Something struck her, and she fell to the stone unconscious.

Standing over her was a furious, frothing, red-eyed monster that had been baptized Edward Cullen. Gone was the restraint. Gone was the class and eloquence. Gone was any semblance of civility. His restraints on his dark nature had finally snapped, and he was going to lash out at the person who broke them.

"NO!" Ron yelled as he shot a stunner at the vampire. The beam of light struck him in the center of his exposed, bone-white torso, but the creature didn't even blink.

With a glare, Edward jumped forward and kicked at his attacker. The strength and speed had the impact of a bludger as it connected with Ron's jaw, breaking it. He fell to ground in a heap. The vampire didn't stop to gloat or finish off the boy but picked up the unconscious witch and jumped with inhuman agility toward the main roof of the castle. A triumph for independence had turned into a catastrophe.

Neville hated passwords. He couldn't remember what was told to him, let alone figure out passwords that he had never heard before. It had taken him years to figure out the passwords for his own house, but the headmaster's office was out of his league.

"Phoenix! Wand! Wizard! Albus! Hogwarts! Harry! Fawkes!" He blurted out at the gargoyle. It didn't move at centimeter, staring coldly at him.

Maybe he was thinking too hard. Thinking wasn't his strongest suit. What would he have put as a password? Toad was too obvious. Trevor wouldn't make it. Frank and Alice could be anyone's mum and dad. How about food?

"Bagel! Corn flakes! Oatmeal! Potato! Salad" Still nothing.

"Sugar quill! Pumpkin pasty! Ice lolly! Cadbury egg!"

That did the trick.

"Dumbledore? Headmaster? Is anyone here?" Neville called out into the room. There were bookshelves, portraits, exotic magical devices, but the man who knew exactly what to do was nowhere to be found.

The portraits mumbled, awaking at the intruder in the middle of the night.

"Has anyone seen Dumbledore?" he asked.

"Oh, are you trying to help that Granger girl?" one of the portraits asked.

Neville spun around in surprise to see to talk to the portrait, which contained a thin, gaunt headmaster with a scar on his face and dark eyes.

"Yes, I am"

"Well, she's headed to the northwest tower. The headmaster will be back soon if you need him. Why not ask the hat there for advice?" the headmaster explained in a deep voice.

"Thank you"

Neville was too desperate to question putting on the old sorting hat, his only thoughts on Hermione and what kind of danger she could be in. The ragged thing still fit on him after all those years.

"Well, if it isn't young Longbottom. I told you that you would be a good Hufflepuff. Of course, you chose Gryffindor, didn't you? Now it's time you become one." The hat spoke into his mind.

Neville was about to ask the hat what it meant when something heavy fell on his head, nearly knocking him out cold. As he dropped the hat and staggered in pain, he noticed a sword had fallen next to his feet. Neville looked down, examining the weapon and realizing what is was. It was the same sword that Harry used to kill the basilisk in second year.

"Guess that's all the help I can get now" he said to himself as he picked it up. He walked over to the window, looking out to see if anything was happening outside. Nothing. Just a clear cold night. Before he could turn and try to meet up with Harry, something grabbed him from behind and carried him off into the night.

Hermione woke up when she hit what she assumed was the ground. As she regained her senses she suddenly realized where she was and assessed what she knew about that instant. She was on top of the castle. She was sore all over. She could taste her own blood. She was fairly sure something had broken. She had dropped her wand back at the tower. And she had been thrown here by a vampire.

"You shouldn't have said no. Now I can't resist." She heard him snarl.

She managed to slowly sit up, only to be grabbed in an iron grip and thrown again. She felt herself travel limply through the air and come down again. This time, she couldn't get up.

"I didn't want to do this. I haven't killed you. I'll offer you a choice." For once, real emotion colored his voice, but it was still chilling; the emotion was frustration, and hunger, and rage. That was somehow even more terrifying.

"It's a choice. I don't like either idea, but it's the only way," he explained, "If you want to live, you become a vampire. I'd rather be married, but since you won't do that, I'll bite you, and you become a vampire. Or I'll let you die right here and now. It's your choice. I offered you what I really wanted, and what was best for you, but it's too late. Too late for anything."

Hermione struggled to sit up, but she met the vampire's gaze for once. She stared into his burning orange eyes with defiance. Bloody, bruised, and most likely going to die within the next hour, Hermione Granger stood up for herself for the last time.

"No deal. If this is what you really are, a hypocrite and a beast, then I'd rather die alone. End it quick, you bastard." She swore uncharacteristically, spitting out the last word as a curse in lieu of her magic. She had no chance to pray, no way to fight back, and no option but to die defiantly like Harry would.

"Get away from her!" a new voice interrupted the scene. It was a voice Hermione recognized, but her aching head preventing any way to figure it out. She shook her head, clearing the starts floating in front of her eyes, and saw something she never imagined. On the roof, on the other side of Edward, was Neville Longbottom, pointing a sword at the vampire.

"You can't have her. You will never have her." Edward said, glaring at the newcomer.

"I know that, but I know that you won't either. I'm here to make sure she gets her way", Neville said, meeting the threat.

Neville still had no idea what he was doing or what was happening. He had landed on the roof with the sword of Gryffindor in his hand and the first thing he saw was the vampire and Hermione's bleeding body. Now he was pointing the sword at the aforementioned vampire who was looking at him in the same way Snape did.

"So, you love her. You should have told her to go with the choice where she didn't die, if you cared about her". Edward moved toward him.

"And if you cared, you'd let her go." Neville shuffled nervously, but he didn't lower his sword.

The next thing he knew, Neville was flat on his back, in pain from a violent impact. He still had the sword in his fist, but both it and him were covered in what looked like a vile potion and burned into him. He looked up to see the vampire, staggering back in shock, the burning liquid pouring down his glimmering body from a hole in his chest.

Neville managed to struggle to his feet, and was walking to Hermione when he noticed that the vampire was attempting the same thing. If he got there first…..

Hermione froze. She had a bad habit of freezing in inability when something terrible caught her by surprise. She hated that habit, hated her weakness, hated having to be rescued out of situations she was capable of mastering. Now, all she did was look at the two figures moving toward her-one was a schoolboy, one she had known for years. The other was a dying vampire. Not much of a choice there.

"Hermione….forgive me for what I'm going to do" Edward rasped out, reaching towards her, determined to control her destiny.

Then several things happened in quick succession. The first was that Neville caught up to Edward and cried out her name in terror. The second was that Edward turned around, clawed fingers raised like a medieval weapon. Next, Edward's head hit the floor, silvery blood burning into both students as it sprayed out. And finally, Harry Potter arrived with the teachers.

"Hermione! Neville!" Harry yelled. He started to run towards them, but Dumbledore, close behind him, gently held him by the shoulder.

"They are covered with venom. This is a job for Snape. Severus, disinfect the students. Minerva, Tuan, get rid of the body. Well done, Fawkes. Don't worry, Harry, they're still alive."

Snape cautiously approached the two fallen students. Everyone knew how he felt towards those two particular students, but duty to Dumbledore made him grit his teeth. To Harry's surprise, he pulled out a flask of some sort of powder, and sprinkled it on both teenagers. Harry turned to Dumbledore when the powder reacted with the venom, creating a huge flume of orange smoke, but Dumbledore simply stood and watched.

Meanwhile, McGonagall, in a sight Harry would never forget, began to hack up the body with a broadsword. As she took off each piece, MacCool tapped the vampire flesh with his cane, setting them on fire. The whole scene was sickening, with gore all over the roof, and Harry started to feel faint. Dumbledore saw this and led him back to the conjured stairs connecting the roof with the tower. Harry looked back once last time at the scene.

The orange smoke came off of Neville and Hermione's bodies, and Snape had body-bound them to keep still as he worked. McGonagall managed to cut up the rest of the body, while MacCool was making sure each and every part of the vampire had been incinerated.

"Professor Dumbledore, will they be all right?" he asked the old wizard as they climbed down the temporary staircase to the tower.

"Oh, with a little luck they will. We managed to show up early enough before the venom could take effect. If they had been exposed to it all night, they would be dead, or even undead." Dumbledore spoke quietly and calmly, as usual.

"Did you hear that, Mr. Weasley? Your friends are alive and will hopefully remain so for a while. Miss Granger has nothing to fear from any vampire, at least for now." He addressed this to Ron as he and Harry reached the tower. Ron was squirming and fidgeting as Madam Pomfrey finished fastening a long bandage around his jaw. Even though he couldn't speak, Ron visibly relaxed in relief.

Before Harry could speak, Dumbledore cut him off with a smile and a gesture.

"Don't worry, Harry. There's nothing you can do right now. You have done quite well, tonight. Just be proud of yourself and your friends. As for the unfortunate man's family, I will negotiate something with them. Suffice to say, vampires and other beings will most likely be banned from the school grounds whoever they may be."

Harry felt only slightly relieved. He just hoped this drama would be over so he could return to the main drama of his life. It never did end.

"What happened to that student anyway?"

"Didn't you know? It was a vampire and it attacked Granger!"

"Granger got into a fight with a vampire?"

"She was in the hospital wing for a week with Weasley and Longbottom. They got attacked too."

"I bet it was Harry Potter who defeated the vampire."

"When I asked him, he said Neville Longbottom killed the vampire."

"He's just making it up. Longbottom can't even kill a sleeping fairy."

"All I know is that he's with Granger now. I saw them at Hogsmeade together. I don't know why."

Hermione heard the gossip and smiled to herself.

The End.


End file.
